Ice spy

A new way for satellites to spot small bergs

Radar altimeters on Earth-orbiting probes can detect and count small icebergs even under cloudy skies, providing warning to ships and invaluable data for scientists monitoring climate change.

UNDER THE RADAR Space-based radar altimeters can spot and track icebergs as small as 1 kilometer across, even under cloudy skies, a new analysis suggests.